Umami Mart

My trip to France was my first international experience ever. As much as I tried to prepare, there really is just no preparing for the unknown. From walking a mile underground in between each subway line to the reality of the hotel rooms, everything seemed to be more difficult than I had anticipated. What do […]

I was recently in Holland for a week, and my good friend and travel buddy, Josh, became OBSESSED with stroopwafels, a Dutch delicacy. A stroopwafel is like a big wafer cookie sandwich that’s a bit chewy and filled with a sweet syrupy honey filling, and every bakery makes them differently. We hunted all over Holland […]

My neighbourhood is changing rapidly these days– for the better. The whole block used to be really sad, shopping-wise. A nasty old bakery with day-old bread, Christian-sects’ offices, and three different Thai “massage” parlours (last year a war broke out between them, and the hookers smashed each other’s glass windows with bricks every night, what […]

My dear friend Leslie alerted me about this bakery when she found out I was going to Chicago. Her friend Sandra Holl had just opened Floriole Cafe & Bakery in the Lincoln Park section of Chicago, and she urged me to make a visit. Sandra and her husband had a supportive following through the farmer’s […]

Newest omiyage (gift) in the Akabori household from Japan: green tea Baumkuchen from a patisserie in Dojima, Osaka called Mon Chouchou. From the website, it looks like it is a relatively new shop (2003), that takes its inspiration from the old world of Osaka, calling Dojima the “New York of Japan.” Of course the most […]

Preface:Loisaida Throwback Crawl: Kossar’s Bialy The Doughnut Plant is just a few doors down from Kossar’s, so how could we not make a stop? Shamefully, as with many of the stops we made throughout the day, this was my very first time there… EVER. Why do you think I suggested to do this crawl? So […]

I’ve been doing a lot of photography for this great new company called Nelle’s Nibbles that specializes in “magic bars”- these yummy cookie bars that you’ll die for. Check out my photos on the site here! You can order your own tasty platter for Superbowl…click on the image below for details… Yum!

Inspired by the Food Network’s Ace of Cakes (such creativity!!! I love them!), Sara and I took a cupcake break this weekend at Lark Cake Shop in Silverlake- it’s a darling little bakery on Sunset with gorgeous jewel-like cupcakes and cakes. Lark beholds a wonderous galaxy of wacky cupcake flavors that are (almost) too cute […]

After spending cocktail hour at Botanica, we headed over to Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pie around the corner- a definite stopover everyone should make while in Red Hook. I had run into Steve at last year’s Atlantic Antic, and over the years I’ve always ordered the pie at Brooklyn restaurants whenever it’s on the menu, […]

Yamahomo’s super fucking expensive oven broke last night. It doesn’t heat up. After making another batch of raisin-wiches, I had the exact amount of egg white left for macarons, so I decided to re-open my battle with Laduree. Complete and Utter failure, becausethe oven was 202 degrees, instead of 350. It’s like owning an expensive […]